Device for operating sliding doors



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DEV ICEPOR OPERATING SLIDING DOORS. No. 531,150. Patented Dec. 18, 1894.

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W. H. BRO DIE. DEVICE FOR OPERATING SLIDING DOORS.

No. 531,150. Patented Dec. 18,18'94.

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. WILLIAM H. 'BRODIE,'OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

DEVICE FOR OPERATING SLIDING DOORS.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,150, dated December 18, 1894. k

' Application filed February 26,1894- Serial No. 501,517. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BRODIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Operating Sliding Doors and the Like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for closing or opening doors, sliding shutters, &c., of buildings, such as barns,'stables, warehouses, &c., to provide against injury in case of fire. For example, in the case of barns or stables Where valuable live stock is kept, it is desirable, in case of fire, that all of the doorslshall be opened promptly in order to provide for the escape of the animals, and my invention furnishes means for opening all of the doors simultaneously from some point near to or remote from the building, as desired. It also provides means whereby, in case some obstacle should prevent the opening of one door, this obstacle will not prevent the other doors from being opened. In the case of a warehouse or the like, it may be provided with fire-proof shutters adapted to be closed simultaneously in the same manner as the doors of a stable are opened; ,or the shutters or doors may be adapted to be opened .or closed by a weight, automatically, when set free, and they may be set free by hand or by the melting of a fusible coupling, in a well known way.

My invention comprehends means for first unlocking the door and then sliding it open,

, and it also includes means for opening double sliding doors.

It will be understood that as herein employed the word door is meant to include any sliding covering whether it be an actual door, a sliding metallic shutter, or any device of this character; and it is immaterial to my invention whether the sliding covering is merely a screen 'to protect another door or window, or'is a door for closing the opening. As I have stated, it may be a sliding door, normally closed, or a sliding shutter, normally open.

My device does not prevent a single doo or shutter of the system from being operated freely by hand-at any time. V

The invention will be fully described hereinafter and its novel features carefully defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which serve to illustrate the invention-Figure '1 is a side elevation showing two stable doors provided with my improved devices for unlocking and opening them simultaneously. These two doors will suffice to illustrate the application of the invention to any number of doors connected in one system or series. Fig. l is a vertical section in the plane indicated byline 1, in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-section of the track showing the means for supporting the shifting rod. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of the unlatching device. Figs. 4 and 4 are detached views of the latch for securing the door when closed. Figs. 5 and 5 are enlarged views of the part of the uulatching lever carrying the shearing pin or rivet. Fig. 6 is an elevation of a double door adapted to be operated automatically when freed by hand. Figs. 6 and 6 are enlarged detail views of the lock for the double door. Fig. 7 is an illustration of the application of my invention to the automatic closing of a fire-proof door, screen or shutter when freed by the melting of a fusible coupling or the like.

the side of a building, as a stable for example, and A, A, represent two like sliding doors therein. These doors are hung from trolleys,

' a, mounted in a trolley-track, B, fixed on the side of the stable by supporting brackets, a, as indicated. The trolley track herein shown (see Fig. 2) is the well known ,Coburn track, and I prefer to use this form of track.

The doors are so hung as to be free to slide open and shut, in a well known way, the trolleys a, rolling in the hollow track B; and each door is, by preference, provided, with a latch, seen at (J, in Fig. 1, and in detailin Figs. 4 and 4, the first view being a side view, with the latch-plate removed, and the latter a horizontal section, or sectional plan, taken in the plane indicated by the line 4?, in Fig. 4. This latch comprises a casing, 0, set in the doorframe or casing, a hooked latch-bolt, c, pivotally mounted in the casing, a spring, a, to

the door. When the door is closed the head of the latch-bolt wipes into the aperture in Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4, A represents depress the bolt, and a striking-plate, c ,'on

the striking-plate and its hook catches the plate and holds the door closed. The bolt is provided with a button, c, which projects downwardly from the casing. By pressing upward on this button the bolt may be raised to free it from the striking-plate.

I will now describe the means employed for unlocking and opening all of the doors simultaneously.

Ic Extending longitudinally along the track 13, above the trolleys a, is a shifting rod, 1). I prefer to employ for this purpose a stiff, iron rod for each set or series of doors arranged in the same plane, but a chain, or

1 5 other flexible device, would serve. It should be, however, of material that will not stretch or elongate materially under strain and therefore a rod is preferred. This shifting rod is supported on sheaves mounted in the track B, between the doors, as seen in the transverse section, Fig. 2, wherein a is the sheave, a a fork within the hollow track and supporting the journals of the sheave, a an outer clamping plate, .and a a screw which 2 5 secures the plate a, to the base of the fork. The said base and the plate a, are shaped to fit and clamp the lower part of the track B, between them.

Mounted on the top of the door, is an un- 0 latchingdevice,D. Seen bestin Fig. 3. Pivoted at its base in a plate, d, secured to the top of the door, is a rocking-lever; one arm, d, of which is coupled to a latch-lifting or releasing rod, 01 which extends down along 5 a recess, groove, or hole in the door to the point where the latch G is situated where said rod is provided with a lateral lug, d (see Figs. 4 and i) which takes under the head of the latch-bolt, a, when the said head is caught in the striking-plate. When the rocker-lever is rocked to the position seen in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the arm at, is raised and the head of the latch-bolt is thus lifted until it is free from the striking-plate. This 5 movement unlatches the door. At the same time, a shoulder, at, on the rocking-lever strikes the plate (1, and limits the further movement of the lever on its pivot. The upper arm, d of the rocking-lever has in it an eye, d", through which plays the shifting-rod, b, and on the said rod is secured a button, I), which, when the rod 1), is moved longitudinally (to the left in Figs. 1 and 3) for opening the doors, will not pass through the eye d on the lever and consequently it first rocks the lever far enough to unlatch the door and then slides the latter open. The movement of the shifting-rod Z), need only be enough to open a door,-say four feet-or a little more,

and where a stiff rod is used in lieu of a chain, I prefer to couple to the end of the rod (see at the left in Fig. 1) a chain, rope, or other flexible connector b", which passes over suitable guide sheaves, I), and out to a winch. Not shown. This winch or winding device may be placed at a considerable distance from the building, if desired.

As all of the doors of a series will be operated simultaneously it will be obvious that an obstruction to the movement of one door would interfere withthe operation of all unless some precaution be taken to prevent it, and such a precautionary device is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 5*, which show the elements of the eye cl, on the unlatching device detached and enlarged. The eye is formed of two members, 61 which are pivotally mounted at 00, on the upper end of the arm 0F, and have each a lip or lug, (1 which overlap when the members are closed and have registering holes in them to receive a rivet, d". This rivet or securing pin will be, by preference, of some soft metal or alloy such as lead, or lead and tin, so that a force applied to spread apart the members d ,will,if great enough, shear off the rivet. The button Z), on the shiftingrod is of a coneor wedge-shape and when force is applied to the rod 12, to shift the doors the tendency of the button is to wedge apart the members of the eye, but the rivet d, will easily resist a strain or force sufficient to move the doors if they are unobstructed. If, how ever, one of the doors should be obstructed the button at that door will wedge apart the members of the eye, shear the rivet, and permit the button to pass through the eye and thus allow the other doors of the series to be operated.

After the doors shall have been opened by the winch the shifting-rod may be moved back again to its first or normal position, seen in Fig. 1, and when in this position any one of the doors may be opened and closed at will without interference with the shiftingrod. In order to return the shifting-rod to its normal position and also to close all of the doors again, simultaneously, I may attach to the other end of the shifting-rod b (that at the right in Fig. 1) a chain or flexible connector 19, and carry said chain over guide sheaves back to the same winch about which the chain b is wound, the two chains being Wound about the winch-barrel in opposite directions so that one will unwind as the other is wound up. Thus the shifting-rod may be returned.

It will be obvious that instead of applying the device to doors to be simultaneously opened it may without change be applied to doors or sliding shutters to be simultaneously closed to guard against fire. It will also be obvious that the shifting-rods of several series of such shutters or doors, on the diflferent floors and diiferent sides of a building, may be connected with and operated simultaneously from the same winch. It will only be necessary to employ suitably placed guidesheaves, and chains or other flexible con nectors.

My invention may be applied to automatically operated doors: that is doors or shutters which are operated by a weight when set free, and to double as well as single doors and shutters. In Fig. 6 Ihave shown its applicacameo" cords or chains are fixed at their outer ends,

as at y,y, pass over sheaves eat the respective ends of the track, and have weights, f, sus; pended in their bights. Where the other ends of the shifting-cords are brought together above the door each is provided with an eye or ring, g, through which is passed a detaching pin, It. On the shifting-cords are buttons or like enlargements, as b, which, when the cords are 1 released by the withdrawal of the pin h, and the weights f act, engage some parts connected withthe sections of the door and slide them open. In the construction shown the two sections of the door'are locked together, normally, by a lock E, on the secthe section A and on the said section A is mounted an unlocking device, D, substantially like that before described, and the button b, on the shifting-cord which operates this section engages the upright arm of the rocking-lever of this device precisely as in the construction before described. The button b, on the shifting-cord which operates the section A, engages an eye-piece, a formed on one of the trolleys a, which supports that section, the operating cord playingthrough the eye in this eye-piece.

In Fig. 6 I have broken away the door-sections transversely, to economize space on the drawings and have also broken away the track b, between the sections of the door and the respective weights f, for the same reason. It will be understood that the doors, doorsections and shutters may be of any kind or dimensions, and may be provided with guides at their bottoms in the usual way with such sliding doors but I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate all the common details as these form no part of my invention.

.. The lock used on the double door of Fig. 6

may be of any kind adapted to be unlocked by the rod (1 depending from the unlocking device D, or it may be a latch. It need differ from that before described (with reference to Fig. 1) only in that it will be carried by one of the sections of the door and consequently the buttons b, on the shifting-cords must be so arranged that the section A, carrying the lock, will not be shifted until the device D, on the other section shall have had time to free the locking device.

In Figs. 6 and 6 I have shown a suitable lock for the door seen in Fig. 6, the former being a side view showing the keeper mounted in the section A of the door and the lattera horizontal section through the casing showing the keeper in plan. In these views, 11 represents the bolt' of the. lock provided with withdrawing latches 71 operated by a key in a well known way. The mechanism for oper-' matically before the gates move.

ating the bolt and its latches may be of the usual kind too well known to require illustration or description. The keeper is mounted in a suitable casing, j, and comprises two like jaws, k, the heads, 10*, of which engage the bolt 2', above and below, taking behind the latches 7?, and being held inengagement by springs, k. The jaws k, are pivoted'at a common point on a stud 10 Between the jaws k, is situated a cam 10, mounted to rock on a stud I0 and to this cam is coupled the unlocking rod 01 The rod 01 when drawn up, rocks the cam, and causes the latter to open the jaws is, far enough to free the latches 2, on. the bolt and permit them to pass out.

In Fig. 7 is shown the application of the shifting mechanism to a door A adapted to be closed automatically by a weight f, when freed by the fusing of a coupling, m. A cord,

n, preferably of combustible material, is secured at one end, y to a fixed part and at its other end to one member of the fusible coupling m, the other member of the coupling being attached to the shifting-cord or chain 6. This latter. passes over a sheave, 0, thence through the hollow track B, and through eyes a", on the trolleys a, and thence over a sheave, 0 to a staple, y, in the wall. The weight f, is suspended in the bight of the shiftingcord. On the cord b, is fixed a button b, as before described.

The door A is free to be opened and closed at will, but if left open and a tire occurs in the building, as soon as the temperature rises high enough to fuse the coupling m, or burn the cord at, the weight f, will act through the cord 29, to closethe door.

I wishit understood that by a trolley I mean any carrier which moves along the track, the door being suspended therefrom. Each door may have one or more of such troltleys. And by the name button as applied to the part b, I mean any suitable enlargement on the operating rod or cord to engage a part connected with the door, as an eye on the trolley or the rocking-lever. The word rod, as applied to the part b, is also intended to include a chain, cord, wire rope, belt, or the like. The expanding eye on the arm d and the rivet d of material easily severed, form a yielding resistance to the button on the rod.

I am awarethat it is not new to operate a farm gate, suspended from a track, by means of a cord secured to the gate, and that, broadly,

it is not new to provide means whereby the ICO IIO

latch connecting two such gates is lifted auto- My construction is clearly distinguished from this in that the doors are not in'any case attached to the operating or shifting rod and therefore they are free, normally, to be opened and closed by hand in the usual way without disturbing said rod. This is necessary for doors of this character. In my constructien the rod plays freely, independently of the door or doors and is furnished with buttons which engage some part connected with the respect ive doors, as explained thus leaving the doors free to be opened and closed separately for daily use.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination with a sliding door, a track, and a trolley on the track from which the door is hung, of a shifting'rod extending along the track and provided with a button to engage some part connected with the door, whereby endwise movement of the shiftingrod operates the door, said door being normally independent of said rod, whereby it may be opened and closed without disturbing the latter, as set forth.

2. The combination with a series of sliding doors, a track, and a series of trolleys on the track from which the respective doors are hung, of a shifting-rod extending along the track and provided with buttons to engage parts connected with respective doors, whereby the endwise movement of the said rod is adapted to operate all of the doors simultaneously, and a yielding resistance substantially as described for permitting an obstructed door to remain nnoperated, as set forth.

3. The combination with a sliding door, a track and a trolley on said track from which the door is hung, of a shifting-rod provided and a wedge-shaped button secured thereon,

of the arm (1 attached to the door and provided with an expanding eye at its end through which the said shifting-rod plays, and a rivet d securing the members of the said eye together, said rivet being of comparatively soft material, whereby the expanding eye and rivet form a yielding resistance in case the door is obstructed, as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM H. BRODIE.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, PETER A. Boss. 

